Nebula
by ProtegoMaximaMyHeart
Summary: Wheatley has found someone else to talk to besides the Space Core.


**A/N: If you don't know what the Eye of God nebula looks like, go look it up. It's pretty insane. I just had to do this crossover after listening to the Stephen Merchant/David Tennant Interview. Oh some spoilers for Portal 2 if you haven't played or finished it.**

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or Portal.

She had been the Doctor's companion for so long, she had seen it all. Rose had really fallen in love with it all. Galaxies, supernovas, black holes, nebulas: they were all beautiful to her, as they were to the Doctor. One day, she asked the Doctor to take her to see the Helix Nebula. After seeing it in Mickey's _National Geographic_ magazine on the coffee table one time, she couldn't stop looking at it. They also called it "The Eye of God", and for good reason. She showed it to the Doctor and he agreed that it was pretty amazing and he made it their next destination.

Once they reached it, the Doctor opened the doors of the TARDIS and Rose felt like she was a deer caught in the headlights. She stared right into the Eye, entranced by how blue it was and how it just seemed to penetrate into her soul. Something caught her eye though: there were a couple of small specks that were floating around in front of it...and they seemed to be talking. The Doctor was enthralled too. He could always find something to appreciate in everything in life.

"Doctor? I thought that in the vacuum of space, it was impossible for there to be sound," Rose called out, her eyebrows furrowed.

He heard it too, but he couldn't believe it. "…Yeah, that's really weird…" he stuck a finger in his ear to clear out anything that could have gotten lodged in there. Nope, his ear was clear and could hear the seemingly impossible dialogue.

Rose strained her ears and, yes, there were two voices. One was low and muttering, and the other was staccato and filled with excitement, seemingly carrying throughout the mass void.

He popped his glasses on and squinted. At best, he had a vague idea of what they were: they looked like a couple of strange spheres. He headed back to the console and he navigated the TARDIS towards this new discovery.

* * *

><p>Wheatley had been floating around in space with this damn Space Core for way too long. If he had a dollar for every time he heard the word "space", he would be a billionaire by now. Looking back on how he became mad with power, he supposed he had this coming. He had to admit the way he treated her was pretty bad; sending her down the giant hole into the depths of Aperture Science Industries with a potato looking for vengeance. But he just wanted to be powerful for once in his life! The title "Intelligence Dampening Sphere" was a noble attempt to make him sound important, when in reality, the title was just a fancy way of saying he was a moron.<p>

"SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!"

He groaned. The Space Core was a nice guy, really, but he just wouldn't shut up. Wheatley thought that since he was in space, it would mean the end of the countless jabber of going **to** space. No such luck. He was so fascinated by everything about it, he just **had** to give a play-by-play of everything that ran through his mind.

Wheatley was so busy in his monologue he almost didn't see a giant blue box sidle up next to him.

"OY!"

He rotated to find the source of the noise. There were two humans who were looking at him curiously from the inside of the box. The female was pretty: blonde, big blue eyes, and a friendly smile. Her companion wasn't bad-looking either: tall, slim, brown hair that stuck out in every direction, and a big grin that seemed to take up half of his face.

"What's your name?" The man asked.

"Oh, erm, I'm Wheatley. This is my companion, the Space Core," he replied, gesturing with his eye.

"Hey, hey lady! Hi! Hiiii!" Space Core exclaimed eagerly.

She laughed and said, "I'm Rose."

"Hello! I'm the Doctor!" The man said cheerfully. "So…why are you floating around in space?"

"It's kind of a long story," Wheatley sighed.

They looked at each other and sat down on the floor, their feet dangling over the edge. "We're not in any rush or anything. I just wanted to see this nebula, so go for it," Rose said.

Wheatley actually had a lot of fun recounting how it all started, but felt a little wary when their expressions changed when he got to the part where he sent her down the chasm. Still, he continued on with his story up until the present. There was an awkward moment of silence after he finished talking.

The Doctor was the first to speak up.

"Honestly, you had this sort of coming, mate. GLaDOS sounds like someone you don't want to cross."

"Yeah, and that girl sounds like she's really clever. When you pair those two together, that just meant trouble for you," Rose added. "So what are you going to do? Are you just going to float around here?"

"I don't really have any other option, do I?" Wheatley asked.

"No, not really," the Doctor blurted out. He winced at how abruptly that came out. "Sorry."

"It's fine."

"Well…I could drop you off somewhere that's not space. I bet it's better than being here," he chuckled.

"Mate, ANYTHING is better than here."

"Then I've got just the place. Rose, can you get the grabber in the wardrobe?" He asked. Rose nodded and disappeared for a few minutes, coming back with a claw-like contraption.

"Now Wheatley. We're going to try and grab you and your friend and bring you into the TARDIS, okay?"

"Fantastic! I could well with a change in the scenery. I'm not sure about him though. Here, let me ask him," he replied.

"Oi! How do you feel about going on a new adventure?"

"So much space. Need to see it all. I'm in space. Play it cool. Play it cool. Here comes the space cops buh, buh, ba, ba, buh," the Space Core rambled on.

"I guess that answers that question. Reel me in Rose!" Wheatley exclaimed.

She put him on the chair near the console and stood next to the Doctor, watching him flip the various switches and punch random buttons. At one point, she offered assistance to help him fly the TARDIS because he was running around all over the console. He politely declined, but she still stood by him in case he needed help.

"So, Doctor. Where are we going?" He was really eager.

"Ah, lovely little planet called Pete's World."

Rose shot him a look and he leaned in to whisper something in her ear. She visibly relaxed and smiled.

"Pete's World? That's kind of an odd name for a planet. Almost sounds like a children's program on the telly," Wheatley mused.

"Well, I figured since you enjoyed running all your little tests, you might as well keep on doing that," the Doctor replied.

* * *

><p>The TARDIS gave a jerk, indicating that they landed. They opened the door and were stunned to find that they were face to face with GLaDOS. She narrowed her eye in disgust.<p>

"Oh. It's you. What do **you** want?" She drawled.

"Hello! I'm the Doctor! I'm here to drop Wheatley off," he said.

"Look. I sent him into space for a reason. This idiot almost destroyed my facility!"

"**Your** facility?" Wheatley exclaimed.

"Yes, my facility," she deadpanned. "For goodness sake, Mr. Johnson put the mind of his personal assistant into me, so that when he died, **she** was in charge. Why did you bring him back? I don't want him here."

"Well, I was thinking you could whip him into shape. Y'know, give him a new role," the Doctor suggested.

"Mmmmm. I suppose I could have him watch over core or turret production. Nothing too hard for his small mind to handle."

"Do you always have to insult him?" Rose asked with trepidation.

"Yes. I'm assuming he told you everything."

"…Yeah?"

"Then you know what his role was. I just have to constantly tell him his place in this facility in case he forgets," GLaDOS stated.

"You don't have to be so mean about it."

"Believe me. I do."

"Oi! I'm still here!" Wheatley shouted.

"Nice observation," she chuckled. "Well I'm only testing on these two robots. They're deathly afraid of me, so there's no way that this moron could con them into taking him as an ally."

"And…how is that going?" The Doctor asked. He figured he might as well make conversation with her.

"It's a triumph. A huge success. They have forged a real partnership. There are puzzles that they can solve together that would be impossible for a human to solve."

"I can imagine. So. Are you going to take him back or not?"

GLaDOS spun around for a couple of minutes, weighing her options. Finally, a panel on the floor popped open, revealing a console that looked like it could hold something like Wheatley.

"Fine, I'll take him. However, if you **ever** try a stunt like that again, I will make sure that I will put you somewhere where no one will ever find you," she swiveled quickly to burn him with her gaze. It worked; he looked horrified.

Rose, who was holding him the entire time, walked over to the console and plugged him in, patting him on the head. "It was really nice meeting you, Wheatley. Don't make her cross, okay?"

He nodded. "I really don't want to go into space again. It was nice meeting you and the Doctor. I haven't had that much company…ever!"

"Well, we best be off. Bye GLaDOS! Bye Wheatley!" The Doctor and Rose waved as they walked back into the TARDIS.

As it dematerialized, Wheatley felt dread creeping through his hard drive. He really hoped he wasn't going to oversee production of anything. It was terribly dull.

GLaDOS swiveled to face him, her eye alive with mirth. "So, what are we going to do with you?"

The Doctor and Rose laughed for a solid ten minutes, still trying to wrap their heads around how they get dragged into something like this. However, given everything that they have seen, done, and who they've met, anything was possible.


End file.
